Biblical Hebrew Forum

[goranson AT duke.edu]

With apologies for cross-posting, two noteworthy new publications:

An important new article for those interested in who lived at Qumran [please
forgive the lack of accents]:
Emile Puech, L'ostracon de Khirbet Qumran (KhQ1996/1) et une vente de
terrain a Jericho, temoin de l'occupation essenienne a Qumran," Flores
Florentino: Dead Sea Scrolls and other early Jewish studies in honour of
Florentino Garcia Martinez, ed. A Hilhorst; Emile Puech; Eibert J C
Tigchelaar.
Brill 2007 [2008], pages 1-29. Puech reads this text as relating to the Qumran
Essene community, including mention of the mebakker.

Ada Yardeni's "A Note on a Qumran Scribe,"* which claims many mss in
most of the Qumran caves for a single scribe is (if a valid claim) another
indication that the Qumran mss were quite unlikely to have originated from
diverse libraries brought from far away. Further proposals that deny that
Essenes lived at Qumran and ask where are mss found in the Khirbeh, despite
fire and water, fail to give account why the extraordinarily multiple
inkwells,
in their scenarios, did not leave extant pottery business records and/or
military records and/or deluxe and/or rustic villa and/or salt-seller motel
receipts etc.

Yardeni's claim, if valid, may call into question some aspects of the
claims in recent cave distribution studies by Stephen Pfann:
"Reassessing the Judean Desert Caves: Libraries, Archives, Genizas and Hiding
Places," BA-IAS 25 (2007)
http://www.uhl.ac/articles/ReassessingTheJudeanDesertCaves.pdf

and by Daniel Stoekl Ben Ezra:
"Old Caves and Young Caves: Two Qumran Collections," DSD 14 (2007) 314-33
http://www.geocities.com/shunrata/abstract.html

The new (2006 [2007]) edition of the 3QCopper Scroll by Puech [Le rouleau de
cuivre de la grotte 3 de Qumrân (3Q15) : expertise, restauration, epigraphie]
is also important, though it could be remarked that the proposal of
Puech which
has the Teacher of Righteousness serving as High Priest ending in 152 BCE has
rather been shown quite unlikely by VanderKam (see note 3ff in the online
article after the signature). And the earlier Jonathan is, in any case, too
early to be the Wicked Priest. Similarly, Hyrcanus II (proposed by Doudna as
Teacher of Righteousness), among other disqualifications, is too late.

best,
Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
"Jannaeus, His Brother Absalom, and Judah the Essene"

*Ada Yardeni, in "A Note on a Qumran Scribe," claims that a single
Qumran scribe (she dates the script to "the late first century BCE to the
beginning of the first century CE") "apparently copied" 56 of the
extant Qumran
scrolls/fragments (according to DJD numbering) from Qumran caves 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
and 11, and unidentified caves, and one from Masada, and "perhaps also" copied
an additional 37 Qumran scrolls/fragments from caves 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 11.
Pages 287-298 in New Seals and Inscriptions, Hebrew, Idumean, and
Cuneiform, ed. Meir Lubetski (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007).